Vivienne Westwood sings against 42 day detention

Vivienne Westwood has written and performed a song against 42 day detention for a new CD.

I'm not sure what her singing voice is like but it's an interesting tactic. If it manages to get as much air play as a Coldplay song it could well have the government repealing the law before it even gets through the Lords in order to stop the noise!

In fact it might be worth bringing a CD player and the song to my next protest, it might help annoy the people inside a little bit more.

Read more here

Choosing the right slogan

For my first protest I spent a long time trying to come up with the perfect slogan. A play on words maybe or something amusing and memorable. It wasn't until the morning of the protest that I came up with a slogan I could be happy with. I was really chuffed with it:

'Oh Lords, Please say no to 42 days' I was chuffed when I saw it written up in big letters on the sign, I was chuffed and smiling to myself as I drove to Dublin with my sign in the back of the car. I was chuffed as I walked down the street towards the British Embassy. I thought I was really clever right until the moment when I hoisted it into the air. It was only then that I realised that my sign made it look like I was religious. I am not religious and I didn't want my protest to be coloured by religion.

Still I was there and without the sign I would have just been a person walking up and down outside the embassy so I used it.

Next time I'm going to need a better slogan, any ideas are very very welcome...

Join the Facebook Group

For all you Facebook fans out there I have created a special group: Ireland against 42 day detention.

I'd be delighted if you'd join.

Good News?

It looks like there could be good news on the horizon from the House Of Lords. It seems that the 42 day detention period could be seen to undermine the independence of the judiciary. This could sway the house in the right direction.

More: 

Politics.co.uk

The London Times

The Guardian

Thanks for your comments. Muppet baby the next protest is scheduled for October 10th which is slap bang in the middle of the bills committee stage in the house of Lords. I hope you will be there to be the official photographer again.

For those of you using Facebook and based in Ireland join the group Ireland against 42 day detention.

Protest against the 42 day detention law.

This is a blog about the new counter terrorism bill that is on it's way through the House of Lords at the moment. Part of the bill allows for the detention of 'terrorist suspects' for 42 days without charge.

It is Tony Blair's Bill but he failed to get it passed through the Commons. Sadly this year Gordon Brown succeeded where Blair failed and after convincing the DUP to vote with him the Bill was passed into the Lords.

There is still time to prevent the Bill from being passed. It seems the Lords are not looking on it too favorably and I for one want to make sure it doesn't make it.

I am new to campaigning. As a British citizen I attended protests in London before I moved to Ireland. Here I feel powerless to stop what my country is doing, I have no MP to write to and an email to Gordon Brown remains unanswered.

For that reason I mounted a protest during the last reading of the Bill in the Lords. I decided to take this course of action at the last minute and thus my protest was a lone one.

So if you are a living in Ireland and want to help me put an end to this bill leave a comment.